The Labyrinth
by ErieDragon
Summary: The small, red book which started it all. Through dangers untold, and hardships unnumbered, I have made my way here to the castle beyond the goblin city, to take back the child which you have stolen...
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: Don't own or claim to own The Labyrinth. If I did, I'd write a sequel and make David the star. :)

Prologue.

Sarah walked across the grass, looking at the small white barn owl sitting on the lamppost. If only she'd known who it was.. Fat chance. She turned to a small book in her hand, the binding a bright red. The cover was slightly worn, but only from the hundreds of times she had read it. In intricate gold letters, "The Labyrinth" was written on the front.

"Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have made my way here to the castle beyond the goblin city, to take back the child that you have stolen. For my will is as strong as yours, my kingdom is as great.." Her voice wavered, looking at the Goblin King, Jareth, whoever he was to her now... His eyes burned, but Sarah knew what she had to. Her brother was her priority.

"You have no power over me."

She almost regretted the words. Almost. 

Sarah lay on her bed, knees crossed, elbows propped on a pillow. She held the small, red book in her hands.. The book which had started everything. She folded to the first page and began to read.

The Labyrinth.


	2. Tale 1

Disclaimer: No, I don't own the Labyrinth either. It's really not that hard.

The Labyrinth

Tale 1

"Please... I scrubbed the entire kitchen today! The stablehand wanted me to exercise the horses tonight!" Her once elegant gown was now in tatters, the knees worn from days on the tile floors. 

"The prince waits for no one," her stepmother snarled, slamming a wooden spoon on the cutting board before storming off into the dining hall. The young woman let out a sharp breath, running her soot-smeared fingers through her knotted hair. The ragged tiara of soft willow fell from the crown of her head, lying lifelessly upon the shimmering tile. 

As the queen said.. The prince was waiting.

Allana trod slowly up the flimsy wooden stairs, pausing every other step to lean against the railing. Her ankles throbbed with pain at every jerky movement, soreness stretching across the muscle from her heels to her toes. She stopped at a large, wooden pair of double doors, making sure no one was around before opening them with a creak.

The library would make any scholar writhe in jealousy. Shelf after shelf of books rose high to the elaborate ceiling, each shimmering with a glossy new binding. Each time Allana glimpsed the gargantuan room, she almost wished she had a minute interest in books. Music was her only passion, the only refuge she could find. The library was only kept as show of position and stature, for no one except herself had set foot in it since the collection was established twenty years ago. 

She collected her tattered white gown in one hand, preventing the train from dragging across the dusty wood plank floor. The room was lit by an enormous window on the far end, the moon casting a silver shadow over Allana's auburn hair. She opened the enormous double panels, stepping onto the balcony and gazing off into the vast forests that surrounded her home. Her eyes traced the trees, when a small, white barn owl caught her attention. She lowered her lashes and smiled, leaning on the metal lattice railing. 

The king of the goblins had taken the form of an owl, watching as the girl worked like a slave day after day. The world had become less superstitious, while Allana herself became more and more infatuated with the legend of the Goblin King. What no one knew was that he had fallen in love with the girl, and had granted her certain powers. 

Allana found her music player beneath a carefully arranged pile of books and left the library, making her way to the prince's quarters. 

Her brother, a boy of wee age, was playing contendedly on the floor of his vast, well-furnished room. Allana braced herself as the little boy glanced up to her.

"Ready to play with me?" He asked, his voice taking on the same nasty tone his mother's did. 

She walked into her room two hours later, a few bruises decorating her arms from toys used as projectiles. A lone tear slid down her cheek, and she looked out her small window to the garden.

She called upon the goblins for help, her suffering no longer bearable. Suddenly, the sheets began to move, snickering, cackling creatures crawling all about beneath them. A large, grimy goblin appeared from beneath a desk, cracking its back as it stood before her. Many more followed, squeezing out from windowpanes and from behind mirrors. They assembled before her, each one giving her an eerie feeling inside.

"Say your right words," the goblins said. Their voices screeched and hissed in unison as they continued. "And we will take the baby to the Goblin city, and you will be free."

Allana sat on her flat, matty bed, staring at the bruises ornately decorating her pale flesh. She knew the Goblin King would keep the prince for all eternity, where he would eventually become one of them, become one of the goblins. 

"No! I can't!" She cried. No matter how much the prince deserved it, Allana couldn't condemn her own brother to such a fate. Looking up, she came to see that the goblins had disappeared.

Allana continued to suffer in silence, taking her stepmother's threats to heart whenever she attempted to tell her father. 

"You didn't clean this kitchen! Look at these smudges! What were you doing all day, talking to your imaginary friends? Playing with your imaginary pets? Talking to the horses? Your rations will be restricted again for this!" Her stepmother cried, wiping a small flour stain from the counter. The girl got to her feet, her knees and toes blistered and red from scrubbing every floor in the hall. She stared at the queen for a moment before racing off to her room.

"I can stand it no longer!" She cried, prying a thrown toy from the tatters of her gown. The prince glared at her defiantly, waving a heavy wooden train. "Goblin king, goblin king! Wherever you may be! Take this child of mine far away from me!" The prince began to scream, but was silenced when the window to his room flew open with a crash. 

The Goblin King watched her from the sill, his dark eyes watching her suddenly grasp her brother to her. His hair was a mane of silky white, thin strands falling around his face and into the tall, black collar of his cloak. He wore tight gray pants, high riding boots coming to his calves. Long, midnight colored sleeves hung from his black gloves, shimmering in the moonlight. 

"The boy," he commanded quietly, approaching Allana and the frightened toddler.

"The queen! She will find a way to have me killed if the prince disappears by my hand!" The girl cried, realizing her mistake all too late. 

"He is already mine," the Goblin King responded, the speechless boy disappearing from her grasp. 

"No! He is mine!" Allana fell to her knees, tears forming in her wide amber eyes. The man watched in silence, the one he loved crying for her brother at his mercy. 

"There is only one way you can reclaim him now."


End file.
